Police deny demanding £24,000 from event organisers

ESSEX Police wants to make clear it did not demand £24,000 to police the Kelvedon Free Music Festival, which was cancelled last week over security costs.

At a meeting with the police and other authorities, organisers were advised they would need a security presence at the event.

If they had not paid for police, or found a private security firm, the police could have contacted the council to revoke the licence.

Police have now said they did not demand £24,000 to patrol the event, although they could not confirm how much it would have costed

Chris Lane, Essex Police's press office manager, said: "It is estimated that around 4,000 people attended last year's event, and the Kelvedon Festival Committee was advised that for reasons of public safety they would need to have both a traffic management plan and an improved plan for the security and stewarding of the event.

"The Kelvedon Festival Committee was also advised that if they requested a policing operation, then this would be subject to full cost recovery by Essex Police in line with national policy.

"No request for a policing operation was received, so no formal quote of the likely costs was ever made."